Winning Streak Reaches Four, Ravens Hang On Against Saint Anselm

RINDGE, N.H. (December 10, 2016) – Junior forward Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) scored 16 points and snagged six rebounds as the Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team defeated Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Anselm College 76-71 Saturday afternoon in the Fieldhouse.

The victory, the Crimson and Grey's fourth in a row, moves them into second place in the Northeast Division Standings with an overall record of 6-4 and a 5-2 NE10 mark. The loss snaps the Hawks four game winning streak as they fall to 4-3, 4-3 NE10.

Lackey converted 7-of-11 (63.6%) of his field goal attempts and led the team with six rebounds. Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) tallied a team-high 19 points, matched Lackey with six caroms and swatted three shots. Senior guard Matt Banton (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 15 points, four boards, two assists and a block.

Sophomore guard Tim Guers was a thorn in the side of the Ravens for the entire game as he poured in a game-high 29 points on 5-of-7 (71.4%) connections from downtown. Guers grabbed seven boards and dished out two helpers. Team captain Chris Braley recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 11 rebounds.

The Ravens defensive unit held reigning NE10 Spalding Player of the Week Harrison Taggart to only six points on 2-of-14 (14.2%) shooting. Taggart ended the game with a game-high five assists and came down with four caroms. He was held scoreless in the first half of play.

Lackey opened up the scoring as he cut underneath the hoop from the baseline and was fed the rock by Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) for two points. Saint Anselm took their first lead at the 17:46 mark as Cody Ball buried a three-pointer from the top of the point. On the Ravens next offensive possession, Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) answered Ball's three with one of his own to knot the score at seven all.

An 8-0 Raven run capped off a Dustin Cole (Standish, Maine) driving layup from the left wing put Pierce ahead by six, 15-9 with 13:51 left in the first. Guers and Brenden Vessichio poured in back-to-back jumpers to pull within two, 15-13 and then Guers pulled up to the top of the key and drained a three assisted by Taggart to tie the score at 17.

Later on, Taggart again found a teammate, Cody Ball who drove the baseline which gave the Hawks a short lived one-point 23-22 lead with 7:04 remaining before halftime.

Franklin Pierce ended the half on a 18-5 scoring binge that was fueled by two Ben Mead (Ipswich, England) connections from deep that put the hosts ahead 40-28 at the intermission.

The Hawks shot only 10-of-35 (28.6%) from the floor during the first half while the Ravens made 16-of-33 (48.5%) of their field goal attempts.

Matt Banton scored the first four points of the second stanza and increased the Ravens lead to a game-high 16 points after he knocked down a pair of freebies. Guers then brought his hard hat and went to work draining two straight three pointers off screens from the left wing to bring his squad within 10, 44-34.

Both teams swapped points until Taggart cracked the scoring column with a reverse layup to cut the game to single figures at 48-40. Taggart's first points of the game started a 10-0 run by the Hawks as they tied the game at 48 all thanks to another deep Guers three.

McDevitt stopped the bleeding as he cleaned the glass with an offensive board off a Sandiford miss. McDevitt made the layup to put his team up by two. A few possessions later, Pierce trailed by one after a jumper from Taylor Fortin. Following the Fortin make, Cole regained the lead to his side with a step back triple to put the Ravens ahead by two.

On the next trip down the floor Guers knocked down a jumper to tie the score for the ninth time at 54 all. After the Guers make, the Crimson and Grey used a 9-2 run as Lackey scored the first six points of the binge using two layups and a jumper while Banton capped on the scoring with a three ball to push the Ravens out in front by seven, 63-56 and forced the guests to stop play with a timeout.

Trailing by seven with 4:24 to play Braley headed to the line, made one-of-two free throws and the miss was corralled by Fortin who after a few passes then received the rock from Guers in the corner and promptly knocked down the corner trey to make it 67-64. Following a Banton layup, Taggart buried his only three of the contest to make it a 69-67 game with 3:23 left.

The Ravens then scored five straight as McDevitt converted two free throws and Gittens drove the lane and dished out a pass to a waiting Lackey who drained the corner three to put the Ravens back up seven 74-67.

The Hawks forced a Raven turnover and on their next possession, Guers hit another three off a screen to put his team within one possession with 1:22 left. Guers then swatted Banton at the rim on the next Raven trip up the floor. Ball, Taggart and Fortin had good looks at the potential game-tying three but they were all off the mark and McDevitt ended the game by hitting both shots from the charity stripe to close out the win.

Gittens stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds, three steals, three assists and a block. Sandiford scored seven points and grabbed seven boards while Cole scored five points.

The Ravens head out on the road next Sunday, December 18 when they travel to non-conference opponent Bloomfield at 3:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).